


let me alone bask in your warmth

by hqkrys



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Confessions, Eventual Smut, Getting Together, Jealous Kageyama Tobio, Jealousy, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Light Angst, M/M, POV Kageyama Tobio, Post-Time Skip, mild possessiveness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-04-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:27:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 16,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415277
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/hqkrys/pseuds/hqkrys
Summary: "With milliseconds to react, Tobio leaped in front of the spiked ball, his form and his mind completely thrown off by being on the receiving end of his and Hinata’s quick for the first time.Tobio had never been in a relationship—not for lack of offers, there had just been no room in his life for a significant other considering how much of it revolved around volleyball—but Tobio was certain this was what being cheated on felt like."~Or, Tobio is a little jealous of Hinata and Atsumu's relationship, leading to a revelation of his feelings for the spiker.
Relationships: Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio
Comments: 185
Kudos: 1542





	1. his spiker

**Author's Note:**

  * Translation into Português brasileiro available: [let me alone bask in your warmth (português)](https://archiveofourown.org/works/27054631) by [louisinfinityy](https://archiveofourown.org/users/louisinfinityy/pseuds/louisinfinityy)



> Hello! This was initially just supposed to be a jealous!kageyama fic but it turned into a 10k+ mess of a fic about Tobio's feelings. Oops.

Tobio was _seething_.

Yes, he had aimed at Hinata during his serve. Yes, he had expected Hinata to successfully bump it (though the perfect connection Hinata achieved had far exceeded any of Tobio’s expectations). Yes, he knew Atsumu Miya was the setter for the Black Jackals and _yes_ , he had figured Hinata would want to start off their first match against each other in years with a bang, but—

But seeing him receive Tobio’s nationally acclaimed serve as naturally as breathing, seeing Atsumu set it high for Hinata (just like the open toss Tobio learned to give Hinata their first year at nationals), seeing Hinata _fly_ again after so long…

It was more than enough to make him irrationally _jealous_. 

Tobio mulled over the possibility that it was Atsumu’s technique that had him feeling like this; Tobio had a tendency to project his curiosity for his fellow setters’ skills into pure aggression. Perhaps his competitiveness and need to learn more about Miya’s setting style turned into an inferiority complex? 

And yet, deep down, Tobio _knew_ that wasn’t it. It wasn’t that he was feeling _inferior_ to Atsumu Miya (it was Tobio, after all, who ranked number one in the league when it came to serves). It wasn’t even Atsumu’s ability that Tobio was looking at, but his _partner_. 

Schweiden Adlers was filled with monsters that practically oozed talent with every step they took, so Tobio definitely wasn’t lacking valuable players that he could easily sync with and bring the best out of. 

The issue was that none of them were Hinata Shouyou.

And Tobio _knew_ how ridiculous that sounded—he’d gone his entire professional volleyball career without tossing to Hinata, without caring _who tossed to_ Hinata, so why did watching Atsumu and Hinata play together leave such a bitter taste in his mouth?

Tobio could feel said mouth contorting into that terrifying, feral grin that Sugawara had once said was “not fit for the public eye”, but he couldn’t seem to stop himself from physically showcasing his discontent with the current situation.

Maybe if it had been anyone _other_ than that damned Miya twin, maybe then he wouldn’t be feeling as upset as he was now. 

God, just remembering Atsumu’s words from before the match, his reference to Hinata as _his wing spiker_ —that bastard wouldn’t have even known Hinata _existed_ without Tobio—was enough to rile him up—

“Damn…!”

Tobio blinked back into awareness at Hoshiumi’s voice only to see a blur slam down on their side of the court and out of bounds in the span of a heartbeat. 

His smile turned into something a bit more genuine (and a bit smugger) as his gaze flitted back to Hinata, who landed nimbly on his feet (the most graceful drop Tobio’s ever seen from him), inhaled and then shouts, “I’M HERE!”

Tobio smirked. “Took you long enough.” _Dumbass_. 

The next few points passed without much of a rally between the two teams and then—

With milliseconds to react, Tobio leaped in front of the spiked ball, his form and his mind completely thrown off by being on the _receiving_ end of _his and Hinata’s_ quick for the first time. While he managed to get under the ball, it shot off his arms, out-of-bounds, because of the weird angle and he clicked his teeth in annoyance. He scowled at Hinata and Miya, who were celebrating their successful combination. 

Tobio had understood what betrayal was since his third year of middle school when the rift between him and his teammates had reached a breaking point and no one trusted another one of his sets for the rest of the season, but this feeling didn’t quite match what he’d experienced back then. He’d never been in a relationship—not for lack of offers, there had just been no room in his life for a significant other considering how much of it revolved around volleyball—but Tobio was certain this was what being cheated on felt like. 

(Tobio didn’t pause to think about why _infidelity_ was the first thing that popped into mind after Hinata had used their quick against him—Kageyama Tobio, the _other half_ of the Karasuno freak duo.) 

He couldn’t help but recall the match against Inarizaki High all those years ago, how Atsumu Miya had boldly announced that he would be setting for Hinata one day. Tobio thought his declaration was merely an act of arrogance back then, a facade to mask the hurt and humiliation from his team’s loss. It pissed Tobio off more than he would ever admit that the stupid twin’s parting words ended up becoming a reality. 

For the rest of the game, Tobio traded spiteful glares and sarcastic grins with the Miya setter, his displeasure and the pit in his stomach mounting with each seemingly perfect coordination between Atsumu and Hinata. 

* * *

* * *

The referee blew his whistle and, just like that, the match was over. 

The pounding of his heart drowned out the applause and chants from the audience, the announcers over the speakers as well as the cries of his teammates and opponents alike no more noticeable than T.V. static. All of it was incomprehensible to Tobio’s mind, which was occupied with far more important matters (with a far more important _player_ )—Tobio could do nothing but stare at the orange-haired spiker through the lines of the net. All his life, Tobio had never been satisfied with the amount of time he’d spend on the court. He had always been greedy when it came to volleyball and even after five grueling sets this fact still had yet to change; he wanted _more_. More sets, more serves, more points, _more of it all_. 

_But_ , Tobio thought, his lips curling into an infinitesimal smile, _this match came pretty damn close to sating all those wants._

Witnessing first hand everything Hinata was capable of now filled him with unspeakable pride; not to mention the excitement and _triumph_ he felt, standing on the same stage together (just like they’d promised once upon a time). His overflowing emotions threatened to swallow him whole right in front of half of Japan. After all the waiting, after spending _years_ so far apart, Hinata had not only returned and fulfilled every promise he’d made Tobio, but—

 _Somebody’s who’s even better will come and find you_.

Kazuyo-san’s words from so long ago, the enticing, prophetical statement that had sounded like a fantastical dream to a young Tobio had finally _come true_. 

His throat began to close up and Tobio hastily sucked in as much oxygen as he could to prevent himself from choking. His eyes, unsympathetic to his breathing issues, made things only more difficult and his surroundings became oddly unfocused. Tobio scrubbed at his face. He had perfect vision, so he had no idea of the cause of the blurry scene in front of him. He did his best to pull himself together by the time he lined up with the rest of his teammates.

Their eyes found one another almost immediately after their teams had thanked each other and the crowd. Like two magnets of opposite poles that had been apart for too long, they pushed past all those foolish enough to stand between them to meet the other halfway, unbothered enough to change out of their uniforms first. 

There were moments during games when Hinata’s eyes would almost glaze over with intense focus, those brown eyes observing and analyzing every ounce of information in front of them before carving out a path that led him to victory. Now that same laser focus was directed at _him_ —had been since the moment they had risen from their customary bow; Tobio doesn’t think he's been able to breathe since then. 

There’s got to be something wrong with him—had Hinata always had this effect on him? Did he just never notice? 

Just as they were within reach of each other (approximately three balls’ width away), just as Hinata opened his mouth to say something to him, as Tobio reached out a hand to (to _what_? He’d never find out)—

“Team meeting, Shouyou-kun.” Atsumu appeared out of nowhere by Hinata’s side, sliding an arm around the smaller man’s shoulders and flashing a sleazy grin at Tobio before he steered them both away.

Dumbfounded and alone now, Tobio dropped his outstretched hand and clenched it into a fist instead. Tobio had never wanted to be an ace despite his natural talent for all aspects of volleyball, but God, he’d give anything just to spike a ball right in that moron setter’s face.

Ignoring the pang in his chest, Tobio turned on his heel and got lost in the crowd.

* * *

“Will you be coming with us, Kageyama?” 

Tobio looked up from his phone to find Ushijima standing in the middle of the doorway to the locker room. Their other teammates had already taken off to get some dinner together, as per post-game tradition, but Kageyama shook his head and checked his phone again (hopefully, _pathetically_ ). 

There was a small moment of silence before Ushijima’s deep voice filled the room, “I hope you understand exactly what you are involving yourself with, Kageyama Tobio.” With that cryptic ass warning, the Schweiden Adlers’ ace left him alone.

Tobio was well aware of the fact that he was a bit of a freak, especially in regards to volleyball, but he personally thought he had nothing on Ushijima Wakatoshi. 

Tobio sat on the bench for a few more minutes until his phone _pinged_ with a message notification. Calmly, he opened his inbox to see the message had been, unfortunately ( _not_ that he had been waiting for a text from anybody in particular), from Daichi, inquiring his whereabouts and asking if he wanted to join the rest of the Karasuno alumni for a couple of drinks at a nearby bar. 

Sighing, he sent back an agreement and a promise to meet up with them within the next thirty minutes. Tobio figured they’d all be there for a good two hours if Coach Ukai and Takeda-sensei were attending, double that if Tanaka’s (the male one, not their manager their first year) insane older sister was there to goad everyone on. 

Tobio checked the time once more, rubbing his eyes with his hand and deciding to head out ( _because fuck this_ ) before standing up with a groan. 

“Your old age catching up to you already, grandpa?”

Tobio nearly started and dropped his bag, but he managed to reign in his emotions and prided himself on the fact that his face remained entirely neutral as he turned to look at the shortest Black Jackal player. His breath stopped short in his lungs at the sight of him. “You’re older than me, dumbass.” 

Hinata rolled warm brown eyes at him and snorted, walking closer to Tobio. “Whatever. Were you waiting long?”

“How presumptuous of you to think I was waiting for you,” Tobio scoffed, willing his cheeks not to turn red and reveal his lie.

“Quit acting like you know what presumptuous means, _Baka_ geyama.”

Opening his mouth to let out a scathing retort, Tobio stepped forward to grab the collar of Hinata’s sports jacket, tugging him closer ( _goosebumps_ started to form along his arm, probably an allergic reaction to being this close to Hinata’s dumb ass after so long). Normally, Hinata would be screaming by now, pushing Tobio off of him and apologizing, but even as Tobio raised a threatening fist in his direction all the shorter man did was grin triumphantly at him, as if he were exactly where he wanted to be. 

Any previous anger he held towards Hinata disappeared when a strange desire to _lean in_ materialized and Tobio quickly shoved him away, closing his mouth instead to try to regain some clarity, his mental state off-kilter. 

“Sorry for the wait,” Hinata continued on as if nothing strange had happened at all. “Let’s go meet up with everybody else, yeah? Daichi-san texted me saying you already agreed to come, so no excuses! Besides, you owe me an arm-wrestling match.”

Hinata wrapped a hand around his bicep (Tobio’s eyes strangely lingered on the way the tips of Hinata’s fingers didn’t quite meet when wrapped around his arm, the sight making Tobio’s chest ache once more, but not necessarily in a bad way this time) and pulled him to the exit. 

Yet, he had to ask, he had to _know_ —the question had been gnawing at him all night: “Are his tosses better than mine?”

Hinata froze and adopted such an incredulous look that Tobio narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips, glaring determinately at the wall to avoid the spiker’s gaze. He felt like he was fifteen all over again—awkward with his words and wholly unprepared for the being that was Hinata Shouyou. 

“Not that I care.” Tobio let out a _tch_ that would make Tsukishima proud and crossed his arms _not defensively_ across his chest. He was just. Resting them there. 

Hinata stared at him long enough that Tobio began to get anxious and wondered if he should’ve tacked on a “dumbass” at the end of his sentence to make it seem more casual. 

He sneaked a glance at Hinata, who was still watching him with those sharp, assessing eyes, head tilted at an angle that made him look even younger than he normally seemed.

 _You’re twenty-two, dumbass_! Tobio hysterically thought. _Act like it_! 

“Kageyama.”

Tobio grunted in response. 

“Kageyama, look at me, would you?”

His eyes shut momentarily and, in that instant, Tobio prayed for strength because he knows once he’s allowed to really _look_ at Hinata, he won’t remember how to stop. He had never wanted to stop, but then Hinata _left_ and it hurt too much to look when he didn’t know when he’d be able to touch again—

“ _HEY HEY HEYYYY_ , SHOOUUUYYOOOUUU!”

A blur of black and white interrupted the two former Karasuno players, not pausing for a moment before leaping right onto Hinata’s back. Unfortunately for Bokuto, who had Hinata beat in terms of height and weight by a long shot, Hinata collapsed under the surprise addition of what was roughly two hundred pounds.

Undeterred by the fact that they both lay in a heap on the floor, Bokuto let out a maniacal laugh, hopping to his feet and tugging the shorter man up with him. 

His childlike joy was as infectious as ever, Tobio noted, watching Hinata’s expression quickly morph to match Bokuto’s broad grin. The outside hitter wrapped his hands around Hinata’s waist and before Hinata (or Tobio for that matter) could get a word of protest out, lifted him high into the air. 

“ _Shouyouuuu_! Let’s go eat rice balls! _Akaashi_ bought some from Myaa-sam before he ran out!”

Tobio could see Hinata’s eyes sparkling at the chance to hang out with his idol and catch up with the old Fukurodani setter. He prepared himself to receive Hinata’s pleading eyes and an apologetic “ _next time_ ”, so he was pleasantly surprised when Hinata did exactly that but aimed towards _Bokuto_. 

“But _Shooouuyyouuu_ —”

(At this point Tobio was nearly certain that the black and white-haired man was incapable of pronouncing anyone’s name normally.)

“— _Omi-kun_ and _Atsumu_ are gonna be there too! And Myaa-Sam’s rice balls are _soooo good_!” 

At the Black Jackal setter’s name, Tobio’s earlier resentment returned full force and he snatched Hinata out of Bokuto’s grip, earning him wide, blinking eyes from both of them. 

“Hinata promised to have an arm-wrestling contest with me after the match, so you’ll have to excuse him, Bokuto-san.” 

Bokuto’s eyes widened even more and then, “ _Oh_! The arm-wrestling contest you two were talking about before the game?! _Let me join_ ! I’ll prove to my number one disciple why _I’m_ number one!” 

He flexed his ( _impressive_ , Tobio begrudgingly thought. He stomped down the urge to cover Hinata’s eyes) biceps before he reached out for Hinata again, but by then Tobio had had enough of _other people_ monopolizing ~~his~~ the spiker’s time. 

“You _can’t_ ,” he burst out. Pushing Hinata behind him, Tobio glared at the taller Black Jackal member, his defensive stance getting the old Fukurodani ace to frown and adopt one of his own.

“Hey hey _hey_ ,” he said, but in a much more menacing tone than Tobio had thought he’d been capable of. Bokuto only had two or three centimeters on Tobio, but he seemed to _loom_ over him now. 

Fan- _fucking_ -tastic, why did the bipolar hitter choose _now_ of all times to get serious? 

“I just wanna spend time with _our_ wing spiker,” Bokuto said in an uncanny parallel of Atsumu’s earlier words. 

Whether done accidentally or not, the words had provoked him enough that now Tobio had a few _choice words_ for just _what_ Bokuto could spend time with, but Hinata (most likely predicting what Tobio’s temper would result in) interrupted before he could spit them out. 

Consoling eyes looked up at Bokuto, paired with a sympathetic hand he reached around Tobio to place on his teammate’s forearm. “Bokuto-san, you can’t have an arm-wrestling match between three people,” delivered Hinata earnestly. 

Immediately, Bokuto’s indignant look dropped as he let out a wail, covering his face with his hands in despair. “ _SHOUYOUUUU_ , you’re absolutely right!” Maneuvering Hinata out from behind him, Bokuto grasped the shorter man by the shoulders and beamed. “Then do your best and win! Make me proud, my young disciple!”

With a wave to each of them, the black-and-white haired man bounced away, screeching “ _AKKKAAAASSSHHHIII_!”

As soon as he was out of hearing-range, Hinata swiveled on him, a knowing smirk on his stupidly bronzed face. Tobio was a bit terrified of how Hinata would interpret that interaction. People always wrote Tobio off as being as dense as a rock, but even _he_ was self-aware of the fact that he’d just acted unreasonably possessive and of _Hinata Shouyou_ no less. 

There was no way in hell he’d ever back down from his oldest rival, however, so he gritted his teeth instead and glared. “What're you looking at, punk?”

“If you wanted to spend time with me so bad, why didn’t you just say so, Kageyama-kun?” 

“As if, moron. Who’d want to be caught dead around you?” Tobio was pretty sure he could cook an egg on his face based on how hot it was burning. Unwilling to let Hinata begin connecting the dots, he grabbed the Black Jackal player, grumbling, “Let’s go already or we’re gonna be late and Tsukishima’s gonna give us shit.”

He let go of the grip he had on Hinata’s hand when they got outside of the locker room in order to lock the place up but Hinata looped his arm through Tobio’s as soon as he finished. Their height difference was emphasized with Hinata pressed all along his side, the heat from his body reaching Tobio even through his layer of clothes.

“What are you doing?”

Hinata squeezed the bicep he had his hand wrapped around and pouted. “I’m cold.” As if to punctuate his statement, he huddled _closer_. 

Tobio was going to combust with this kind of attention, he was positive of it. “How is that _my_ problem?”

 _He has selective hearing_ , Tobio realized. That was the only explanation for why Hinata would _ignore_ him and proceed to drag Tobio towards the bar where their old high school teammates were without an answer. 

“ _Shouyou-kun_!”

 _What the fuck was up with these interruptions_? Tobio thought, aggravated. Was his life some kind of shounen manga? A fanfiction where everything that could possibly go wrong _does_? 

Tobio tried to keep walking when he heard the voice, but Hinata was a lot stronger than he had been back in high school and he halted the both of them to turn and greet Atsumu Miya with a (far too friendly) smile. 

“There ya are, Shouyou-kun.” His smug voice and Kansai dialect grated on Tobio’s nerves. “Bokuto told me you were with Tobio-kun, so I came to try an’ convice ya to join us.” A grin crept on his face as he met Tobio’s scowl. “Shouldn’t ya be with yer teammates, Shouyou-kun? After all, _we_ got a victory to celebrate.”

“Ah, sorry, Atsumu-san, but I already promised some of my old friends I’d meet up with them,” Hinata said sincerely. 

He mimicked Atsumu’s smug grin when he heard the rejection, flexing the arm still in Hinata’s grasp and putting a bit of distance between Hinata and the other setter. 

“ _We_ have to go now, Miya-san. Have a nice time with Bokuto-san and the others.” It was hard to keep the proud snarl out of his voice, but Tobio managed to, just barely. 

Though he didn’t reveal his pettiness with his words, the way he slid an arm around Hinata’s waist and yanked him into Tobio’s body said enough. For the first time that night, Tobio gave Atsumu a genuine smile before he walked out with Hinata by _his_ side. 

They walked quietly for the first block before Hinata gave him a questioning look, eyebrows raised almost judgmentally. “Soooo, you gonna tell me what that was all about or what?”

He had actually been hoping to completely avoid that, thanks, and Tobio said as much aloud. 

Using the hand he had looped around Tobio’s waist, Hinata took hold of the side of Tobio’s stomach and pinched mercilessly. Tobio yelped, trying to get away from the source of pain on reflex, but Hinata wasn’t letting him go anywhere, Hinata’s other hand circling around his wrist, as Tobio’s arm was still curled around Hinata’s waist to keep him close. 

“Is this related to what you asked about in the locker room?” 

When had Hinata gotten this perceptive? Did living in Brazil actually manage to give the dumbass more brain cells? Then again, considering Hinata only had one (1) to begin with, Tobio supposed it was entirely feasible. 

Caught and unable to think of a way to change the subject, Tobio begrudgingly nodded. _Now_ would’ve been a great time for outside interference, but whoever was watching over his life apparently hated him because nothing happened at all.

The hand on his stomach gentled into a tender, encouraging caress that instantly made heat rise to Tobio’s face. “Tell me, Kageyama,” Hinata said. 

Fuck him, he probably didn’t even realize Tobio turned into a puddle of sop when it came to physical affection (especially when it came from a certain orange-haired man). 

Tobio sighed. “Some of the shit Miya was saying earlier just pissed me off, is all.”

“What’d he say that’s got you all grouchy for?” Hinata laughed before a considering look came over his face. “Though it doesn’t take much to get you all worked up.”

There were literally _thousands_ of other things Tobio would rather be doing right now instead of this, one of the more favored options being: running far, far away. 

“It’s…nothing, really.” Tobio gulped, eyes focused on the path ahead. “I don’t have a right to be mad, anyway; what Miya said was the truth.” 

“But what did Atsumu-san _say_? And when? Wasn’t I with you before the match? Unless you two met up before or after we talked? Was that what happened? What’re you being so secretive for, huh?”

“You _heard_ what he said, dumbass,” he snapped, the excessive amount of questions making him reply without much thought. Promptly, Tobio clamped his mouth shut and picked up his pace so they could get to the damn bar before he divulged anything else, for fuck’s sake. 

However, what he said was already out in the open and Hinata latched onto the slip up as rapidly as his quick attacks. 

“Oh, so it was when we were all in front of the bathroom, then!” Hinata’s expression morphed into one of confusion, eyebrows furrowed as he recalled the chaotic pre-game gathering of their high school rivals. “But the only time I remember Atsumu-san addressing _you_ was when he told you not to pick a fight with me.”

Tobio pretended to be mute and deaf. They were one block away—would he be able to make it in time and divert Hinata’s attention—

“ ‘Tobio-kun. Wouldja’ mind not pickin’ a fight with _my_ winger spiker, _hmm_?’ Was that it?”

—or would Hinata completely figure it out in one go? The little runt even parted his hair to the side to mimic the Miya twin’s as he repeated him, word-for-word and with perfect intonation. 

Embarrassment at having that sore point exposed flooded through him and Tobio automatically became defensive. “ _Oi_ , what the fuck is your memory so good for?” Tobio stopped in the middle of the sidewalk to whirl on the shorter man, seizing his orange head in his hands and roughly wrenching him back and forth, eliciting cries of pain from him and leery looks from the two or three passersby. “If you could remember things that well, why were your grades so shit in high school, huh? _Dumbass Hinata_!” 

“ _Ow ow ow_ , stop, it hurrrtssss, Kageyama!” Hinata grabbed his wrists to halt his ruthless yanking, glaring up at the setter after he managed to escape from his clutches. “I thought you grew up, but now I see you’re just as mean as ever, Bakageyama!” The statement was followed by Hinata sticking out his tongue at Tobio, the provocation earning him a warning shake in his direction from Tobio’s fist. 

Hinata warily returned to his side, though he didn’t try to link arms again, the decision not going unnoticed and leaving Tobio feeling strangely regretful that his violent outburst pushed him away—physically at least. 

Heedless of the aggression Tobio just displayed, Hinata persevered with the subject because, despite his brilliance on court, he truly was an idiot deep down inside—that or he had some kind of death wish.

“Hey, Kageyama, why did what Atsumu-san say make you that mad? You even took it out on him _after_ the game, when we were leaving the locker room. Don’t think I didn’t see you making your scary face at him,” he said, wagging his finger. “Was it because he spoke so familiarly with you? Do you not like being called ‘Tobio-kun’?”

At Tobio’s silence, Hinata continued analyzing. “Was it because he told you to quit arguing with me? Was that what upset you? Because you have anger management issues—”

“ _Hey_! I do _not_ have—”

“—and you get even angrier when people tell you what to do or point it out?”

He had had _enough_ of this shit, Tobio determined, pivoting on his heel and stomping the last stretch of the way to the bar. Tobio may have had longer legs, but Hinata—the little shit—had always been fast and he matched Tobio’s speed with ease. 

“Besides those two reasons, the only _other_ thing Atsumu-san said was that I was _his_ wing spiker—”

Several things happened all at once: 

1) They arrived at the bar just as a couple of customers were exiting, leaving them in the middle of an open doorway. 

2) Tobio unconsciously flinched at the comment. 

3) Hinata _saw_ Tobio’s reaction to his comment and his eyes widened with realization. 

4) Tanaka Saeko caught sight of them and exclaimed loud enough for every citizen and their dog in Miyagi to hear, “ _The stars of today’s legendary match have finally joined us_!” causing the eyes of all those inside to spin towards them. 

Despite the pressure of everyone’s attention on them now, Tobio finally felt like luck was on his side. 

He seized the opportunity the distraction served, making his way over to the Karasuno alumni and, more importantly, getting away from Hinata Shouyou’s sharp eyes.


	2. confrontation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Brief Karasuno reunion before the long-awaited confrontation between Hinata and Kageyama.

“You did better than expected, I suppose.” Tsukishima shrugged and sipped disinterestedly at his beverage. Hinata gaped at him, eyes sparkling from receiving a compliment from not only a fellow pro player, but one from _Tsukishima_ _Kei_ , who Tobio was pretty sure hated every living being on the planet unless that being happened to be named Yamaguchi Tadashi. Tobio’s fist clenched and he resisted the urge to snarl at Hinata to get that stupid look off his face and at Tsukishima for…for putting it there. 

“Tsukki was super impressed with everything you pulled off, Shouyou!”

Tobio whipped his head to stare down his old captain at his statement, feeling peculiarly like he was surrounded by rivals. Since when was _Yamaguchi_ allowed to call the Black Jackal member _Shouyou_? The only interactions the two had that Tobio was aware of were through the Karasuno group chat.

 _Unless they_ privately _messaged each other_ , Tobio realized with horror. The gnawing feeling in his stomach—that had sprung into life when he saw Atsumu and Hinata together—festered at an alarming rate. 

“We couldn’t be more proud of you two,” Suga sniffed, tearing up and cupping Hinata’s cheek like one would treat a pet. 

Daichi’s rumbling laugh boomed throughout their table and he reached out a hand to ruffle Hinata and Kageyama’s hair. “What Koushi said. Really, you two were _amazing_.” He turned to face Hinata, grinning. “All your hard work in Brazil really paid off, Hinata.”

To Tobio’s dismay (and many of the other Karasuno alumni), Hinata’s eyes began to water dangerously at the praise. “Th- _Thank you very much_!” He cried, tackling Suga and Daichi into a hug. 

_More rivals_ , he thought bitterly, frowning at his senpais before bowing. “Thank you for all your support.” 

“Don’t look so down, Tobio-kun! Just because you lost doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate tonight like you would a victory!” Saeko’s broad grin eased a bit of the tension in Tobio’s shoulders and he tipped his head in acknowledgment. That seemed to serve as encouragement for the rambunctious blonde to call the waiter for a round of beer for their entire table. “And two orders of whiskey highball for the two stars,” she said coyly, winking at Tobio. 

“Oh, I really shouldn’t, Nee-san,” Hinata interjected. “I have practice tomorrow and I’m not much of a drinker.” 

Tobio felt the same way—he’d never been a fan of the way alcohol impeded his ability to play volleyball, so he steered clear of the intoxicates. Given the night he’d just had, however, Tobio was willing to get a bit drunk if only to evade the questioning glances the orange-haired man kept sneaking him.

“I won’t take no for an answer!” Saeko declared, shooting to her feet and hands coming to rest on her hips. Tsukishima (the nice older one) gazed adoringly at her from his seat. “Everyone here is gonna match me drink for drink and that’s _final_!”

Tobio was fairly sure half of them would end up with alcohol poisoning if they really were to take a drink every time Saeko did, but he supposed it was the spirit that counted.

Tanaka groaned into his wife’s shoulder, embarrassed by his older sister’s antics. Kiyoko smiled fondly at him and patted his arm sympathetically. 

Strangely envious at the domestic sight, Tobio’s gaze slid away when he began to imagine himself in Tanaka’s position, but with a certain tanned, redhead in place of Kiyoko. Frowning, he banished that thought with a shake of his head. He concentrated on getting wasted as fast as humanly possible, swigging down the whiskey when it arrived and immediately calling for another.

The following two hours were a blur of too many shots, tears (mostly from Asahi, Takeda-sensei, and Sugawara), and laughter over their days back in Karasuno. Avoiding Hinata notwithstanding, it was definitely the most fun Tobio’s had in a long, long time. Regardless of how gratifying it was to reminisce with his old teammates and bet how many onigiris Tanaka could fit into his mouth, Tobio’s social battery was drained after seeing Tsukishima (the mean younger one) and Yamaguchi playing the Pocky game with far too much gusto (where they had even procured those, Tobio had no clue). 

If they both refused to tear their mouths apart from each other, did that make them both winners? Why did they keep going even after the stick-like snack had disappeared? 

Though it was better than Takeda-sensei and Coach Ukai, he supposed, who didn’t even bother with the pretense of a pocky stick. From the corner of his vision, the setter could see his former captain-turned-policeman eyeing Sugawara and that was _definitely_ something he didn’t want to witness, so he briskly rose from his seat and made his goodbyes, promising to do this again sometime soon. 

After tugging on his shoes, Tobio strode outside, enjoying the peaceful quiet of the night, the crisp wind cooling down his alcohol-induced, feverish face. He spent an entire block like that before the last person he wanted to see caught up with him. 

“Kageyama! Kageyama, wait a minute— _Kageyama_!” 

_So close_.

Tobio whirled on his heel and hissed at the approaching ginger. “Could you _be_ any louder?”

As soon as Hinata was close enough, he reached out an arm to rope Tobio into a secluded alleyway (though the street they were on was already empty, what with it being so late at night), pushed the taller man against the wall and glared at him with all the ferociousness he had to offer (that is to say: not a lot). 

“You were _avoiding_ me,” he accused, fists planted on his jutted hips. 

Tobio blanched at the confrontation. “No, I wasn’t.”

“Yes, you were!”

“There was just a…lot happening and so many people to catch up with,” he muttered, unable to meet that fierce gaze, feeling more and more like a bastard as each second passed. “I didn’t really have the time to talk with you—”

“Don’t lie to me!” 

Sometime during Tobio’s half-assed excuse, his eyes drifted to the ground, but at the sound of Hinata’s hurt voice his head snapped up to catch a range of complicated emotions flit through his face. 

Hinata sighed. “You've never been a good liar, Kageyama-kun, and it’s making me a bit angry that you’re trying to lie to _me_. I’m your best…we’re good friends, aren’t we?” 

It didn’t escape Tobio’s notice that Hinata swapped their status as _best friends_ to _good friends_ and he wanted to scream at the Black Jackal that _yes_ , they were still best friends—Tobio had never had another friend who knew him even _half_ as much as Hinata Shouyou did. Hinata, on the other hand, collected friends as effortlessly and swiftly as he racked up points during games. And that—that was what bothered Tobio the most. Replacing Hinata would be like trying to find another Sun for the Earth to revolve around. Tobio was a socially awkward misfit half the time and a demanding, volleyball-obsessed perfectionist the other half. There were hundreds, if not _thousands_ , of other people Hinata would have a much easier time being friends with.

“Yes,” he managed, the familiar bitterness at the thought of others getting to be around Hinata instead of _him_ curling unpleasantly low in his gut. “We are. Best friends, that is.”

“So _talk_ to me, you idiot.” And then, “Were you jealous, Kageyama-kun?”

It was such a Hinata thing to do, to pick at his every insecurity with all the tact of an ax-wielding gorilla. Tobio inhaled shakily at the question and buried his face in his hands, wishing the ground would open and swallow him up whole. What he felt for Hinata was _weird_ and _new_ and Tobio didn’t know how to justify his jealous swings without making himself sound like a Shouyou-obsessed freak. 

Gentle hands took a hold of his wrists, pulling them away and exposing Tobio to even gentler eyes. “Kageyama?”

“I—that’s,” he gulped and tried to breathe as a lump the size of Tokyo lodged itself in his throat. 

Why was Hinata getting _closer_? 

“Calm down, Kageyama,” he said, concern written all over his face as he tugged Kageyama down towards him with the grip he had around Tobio’s wrists. “It’s all right. You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I didn’t mean to push you so much. If it’s a sensitive subject then we can just forget about it, okay? I just—” Honey burnt eyes peeked up at him, nothing but truthfulness behind them. “I just want to be with you for a little longer, then, at least. My jerk of a best friend spent the entire night running away at the sight of me and it made me feel a little lonely.” 

With those reassuring words, the last of his resolve shattered into thousands of pieces. He dropped his head onto Hinata’s shoulder, ignoring the strain it caused for his neck because of their height difference. 

“ _Yes_ ,” he gasped out, the weight that had been sitting on his chest the entire day lifting just a bit with the admittance. “I was jealous, I couldn’t help it—I _hated_ it.”

Hinata let go of his wrists and Tobio despaired at the thought that Hinata was _rejecting him_ , disgusted at him for his unprecedented jealousy. But before Tobio could jump back and voice his apologies, Hinata cupped the back of his neck with his hand, the other winding around Tobio’s back. Tobio tried his best to not expire at the embrace and at the fact that he could smell Hinata's musky scent, intermingled with the air salonpas aroma he'd always loved. 

“What were you jealous of?”

He shivered as the spiker’s hot breath tickled the shell of his ear. “ _Who_ , you mean. And it was Miya, of course.” The hand on the nape of his neck shifted upwards until Hinata was tenderly running his fingers through Tobio’s hair, the action seeping the last of the tension in his wound-up body. “You…You used _our_ quick, dumbass. What’s wrong with you?” 

“ _Our quick_ , huh?” Hinata—the bastard—sounded _amused_. He had half a mind to grind the idiot’s head into the ground with his fist but decided against it as that would require moving away from Hinata’s embrace and surprisingly hypnotic fingers. 

“Yeah, _our quick_ ,” he huffed, shutting his eyes and resisting the urge to push his face further into the crevice of Hinata’s neck, lest he freaked the spiker out with his uncharacteristic neediness. “Freaking…cheating scumbag.”

“Oh, so I’m a cheater now?”

“I said what I said, punk.” 

“I don’t think using a technique we excelled at in high school is against the rules, sorry to break it to you, Kageyama-kun.”

Tobio raised his head, his need to glare at the oblivious wing spiker outweighing his desire for Hinata to keep playing with his hair. “Don’t play dumb, dumbass. I didn’t mean cheating like _that_.”

Hinata stared blankly for a few seconds until realization dawned on him and he launched into a fit of laughter so hard, tears leaked from the corners of his eyes. “Y-You can’t mean _that_ kind of cheating,” he wheezed out. 

“Do you see me using our quick with Hoshiumi?” He asked, cheeks puffing out. 

That question seemed to showcase how serious Tobio was about this and soon Hinata’s light laughter ceased. “That’s not fair at all, Kageyama. We both know that Hoshiumi-san excels in aerial attacks. Your sets to him prioritize height, not speed.” 

_Damn his perceptiveness_. Everything Hinata was saying was completely true, and something Tobio had considered from the very beginning. That didn’t stop him from feeling this way, though. 

“You’re not…really upset with me for using the quick, are you?” Hinata gazed up at him with a face one wrong answer away from crestfallen. “I…I went to Brazil to gain new skills, but I also had to hone my core strengths. You know more than anyone that speed is _my_ specialty. Atsumu-san does everything to draw out every bit of my potential; he takes his duties as a setter as seriously as you.”

When the hell had Hinata gotten so good at rationalizing? How was Tobio supposed to argue with that sound logic? 

“I—You’re right,” he admitted. “I was just—I’m just saying stupid things because we lost, I guess.” 

Hinata scrutinized him for a few seconds and then surmised, “It’s more than just the quick, though, isn’t it?” 

Seriously, what the fuck. 

Tobio scowled harder. Might as well spill his guts out now rather than Hinata inevitably figuring every fucking thing out later. “You said you were here for _me_.”

Much like a newborn puppy, Hinata cocked his head to the side in confusion. 

Ah, he knew this was a bad idea—like any normal person would be able to decipher the tangled, incomprehensible _mess_ that Tobio’s thoughts were.

“I said that to you our first year.”

Then again, as Tobio’s mood lifted once more, Hinata was anything _but_ normal.

He nodded and tried to clarify, “I waited—” _Almost my entire life for you to come and find me_. “—for you while you were off in Brazil, and I’m not giving you up to some second-rate setter who’ll never match your passion like I do.”

“Giving me up?”

"Don't act like you don't see the way Miya acts around you." Hinata’s lack of understanding showed in his vacant eyes. Tobio could feel his irritation spiking at his obliviousness. "He called you _his_ wing spiker!"

"But aren't I?" 

"No!"

"But Atsumu-san and I are on the same team." His voice lilted up, turning the statement into a question. "And he's the setter while I'm a wing spiker. Doesn't that make me his wing spi—"

"You're not his _anything_ because you're _mine_ !" Tobio snapped, breathing heavily. Instantly, Tobio’s flinched, face twitching into a stupefied grimace. What in the fuck was he _saying_ ? Oh god. Oh god, put him out of his misery. Now Hinata would _know_ that Tobio's feelings for him ran deeper than the average pair of best friends and he'd _hate_ him and he was gonna drop Tobio faster than the Shinkansen before running off with that smirky-faced Black Jackal setter. 

“I can be both, can’t I?”

 _What_.

“What.”

Closing the small distance between them, Hinata stepped right into Tobio’s space and declared, “I’m Atsumu-san’s wing spiker, but I’m Kageyama’s too.”

“D-Do you even understand what you’re saying, dumbass?” Nevermind the hope blossoming in his chest at the possibility that Hinata knew _exactly_ what he was offering with those words.

“For an athlete praised for his intellectual brilliance, you sure are dense, Kageyama. How do I make myself any more clear? Atsumu-san and I are teammates and friends, but you and I are more than that.” Hinata raised a hand to press his fist to Tobio’s chest, a tentative smile on his face. The action warmed Tobio up from the inside-out. “I’m not your wing spiker anymore, but I can be your’s in every other way if you want.”

“ _I want_!” Tobio cried. Heart beating like a hummingbird’s wings, he grabbed the hand Hinata had on his sternum, licking his lips before saying in a much more collected voice, “I—am not opposed to that suggestion.” Hinata rolled his eyes at the formal phrasing, but Tobio couldn’t find it within himself to be mad, especially when those same eyes were twinkling in delight.

"Just to clarify, you know that I—that I...like you, right? As in, I _like_ like you." No miscommunication washappening, not on Tobio's watch. God, this was embarrassing, though. Here he was—Kageyama Tobio, twenty-one years of age—confessing his, unfortunately, romantic feelings for _Hinata Shouyou_. It had better be requited love or else he'd pulverize the dumbass for leading him on with that _I can be your_ 's shit. 

"I like like you too, I guess," Hinata said teasingly nonchalant.

Tobio scowled. "What hell do you mean ' _I guess_ '—"

"Because—" Hinata put his hand in front of Tobio's face, his thumb and pointer finger nearly pressed together. "I only like you _this_ much, just a _little_ —"

" _Oi_ _—_!" Tobio was going to wipe the _floor_ with the runt, he swore—

"I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Put away your scary face, Kageyama-kun!" The brat cracked up over his not-funny joke while Tobio glowered at him. “I really do like you, Kageyama. More than just a little. Also,” Hinata’s other hand raised to cover his mouth and he chortled, “ _Second-rate setter_? Sakusa-san is gonna _love_ that.”

Tobio frowned, his jaw clenching defensively. “His serves are ranked second best in the league, after _me_.” 

Another tinkling laugh escaped from the wing spiker. “Of course, of course,” his tone palliating. “Kageyama-kun is number one.” His expression softened. “Number one server in the league and…and _numberoneinmylife_.” The last few words were mumbled too quietly for Tobio to catch and Hinata plowed ahead before he could ask him to repeat himself, referring to Tobio's words from earlier. “ _In any case_ , there’s no way I’d ever _let_ you give me up, so if you think you can get rid of me that easily then you’re stupider than I thought, Bakayama. There’s absolutely no reason for you to be jealous of Atsumu-san. Do you see me brooding over your partnership with Hoshiumi-san or Romero-san?”

Tobio petulantly crossed his arms. He had not been _brooding_. “No.” Was it wrong of him that he wished for Hinata to be a bit jealous? “You should be, though, they’re both better spikers than you.” 

Sepia eyes widened with…hurt? Fuck, he’d gone and said the _wrong_ thing again just to get a rise out of the man—

Hinata’s boisterous laugh startled Tobio out of his downward spiral, but he was still unable to react in time to the punch to the arm the Black Jackal gave him. 

“That’s fair,” he said as he finally calmed down, Tobio watching him carefully to see whether he was faking his good-natured reaction or not. “After all, Romero has way more experience than me right now, but I’ll be sure to catch up to him soon. Hoshiumi-san as well.” 

Hinata grinned that same competitive grin Tobio had seen at every one of their matches during their time at Karasuno and his chest filled with fondness at the familiar sight. 

“But you’re a better partner,” he blurted out. 

The grin on his face faltered and Tobio only had a moment to second guess himself before Hinata was punching him _again_ and screeching, “ _Kindyama_ , _Kindyama_! Who are you and what have you done to the Kageyama who can’t even say the word ‘ _nice_ ’ without choking?”

He growled, swiping at Hinata while the bonehead was too busy laughing to dodge him. Tobio wrapped his fist around Hinata’s jacket, hauling him in closer and Hinata—

Hinata was _beautiful_ like this, sunshine eyes crinkled in mirth, cheeks stained pink from the cold and _beaming_ (at _him_ , Tobio giddily thought). The position they were in mimicked the one they had taken earlier in the Schweiden Adlers’ locker room; close enough that Tobio could count the man’s individual lashes, close enough that they were sharing the same breath

Tobio had run away back then, but now— _now_ , he steeled his nerves and lifted the ginger just a bit higher, just so they were face-to-face, hoping Hinata would understand what he was trying to ask. There was a moment of hesitation, wide amber eyes staring into his own at their sudden proximity before they fell to Tobio’s lips. And, well, they had always been on the same page when it came to things of importance. 

The two met in the middle—just like they always had—mouths clashing hard. But, as Hinata shuddered and opened his mouth in invitation (answering his question with a wholehearted _yes_ ), Tobio didn’t think it was possible to be gentle right now.

He slipped his tongue alongside Hinata’s, tasting the remnants of the fruity beverage he had opted for over alcohol. A small moan escaped from the spiker, prompting Tobio to move forward on instinct, pressing their chests flat against each other, his need for proximity only paradoxically growing the closer he got. Tobio felt small, calloused hands tugging at his own hands and, without breaking their kiss, Tobio placed Hinata back on the solid ground, giving his hands the chance to slip lower. He earned a squeak out of the other man when Tobio cupped the supple part of his upper thighs, just barely brushing against his ass. Tobio tried not to grin at the affronted sound. He failed.

Sighing in bliss, he tilted Hinata’s head to further deepen the kiss. Tobio was well-aware of the fact that he was trespassing uncharted territory now, but with Hinata buzzing with enthusiasm in his arms he felt _invincible_.

He drove Hinata backward until his back was flat against the nearest building wall, positioning one of his legs between Hinata’s thighs. Immediately picking up on Tobio’s intent (something Hinata had always excelled at), Hinata braced his arms around Tobio’s shoulders before hopping up and wrapping his strong legs around Tobio’s waist. 

_Fuck_ , Tobio internally groaned, pulling back from Hinata’s lips to gasp in some much-needed air. Uncaring for his lack of oxygen, Hinata chased after his mouth, forcing Tobio to hide his face into the other man’s neck for a short reprieve. 

“ _Yamaaa_ ,” the wing spiker whined, his hands snaking up to cup Tobio’s jaw and attempting to draw him into another kiss. 

“Don’t call me that,” Tobio panted against his skin, flicking out his tongue to lick the taunting line of Hinata’s collarbone. The nickname made him think of Yamaguchi and while he did get along quite well with the man even to this day, that didn’t mean Tobio wanted to hear his name while he was _aroused_. 

One of Hinata’s hands tangled itself to Tobio’s hair and tugged _hard_ , making Tobio hiss as his head jerked back. 

Tobio opened his mouth to begin accusing the dumbass of ripping his hair but fell short at the sight of him. His hair was wildly tousled, cheeks nearly the same shade as his bright tresses, softening his overall appearance. Hinata’s bangs framed his flushed face, his mouth was kiss-swollen (because of _me_ , Tobio couldn’t help but proudly think) and heavy-lidded brown eyes were glaring at _Tobio_ accusingly as if he deserved the small pain for not giving into Hinata’s desires. 

Jesus, this man would be the death of him. 

“ _Kage_ yama,” Hinata said, somewhat threateningly, eyes narrowed. Tobio wondered whether he should be concerned by how much that turned him on. 

Snickering, Tobio leaned down to oblige the smaller man, murmuring “ _so demanding_ ” against his lips before capturing them once more. 

All the various limbs Hinata had entangled around Tobio tightened briefly before the Black Jackal melted against him, the action igniting a fire in the lower pit of Tobio’s stomach, anticipation and adrenaline coursing through his veins. Unconsciously, his hips thrust against Hinata, inducing the loudest moan yet from the other man. 

His brain took a second to catch up with the rest of his body, but when it did, Tobio hastily drew back, shocked and embarrassed at his own forwardness. “S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to, I—” 

Christ, Hinata could probably feel his—his _erection_ , how humiliating was that?

Hinata interrupted his apology with an unhappy groan and this time it was _Hinata’s_ turn to drop his face into the crook of Tobio’s neck. “ _Baka_ geyama _,_ why would you apologize for _that_ when I’m—when I feel the same?” 

_Hah?_

Tentatively, Tobio shifted back a bit to look between them, only getting to catch a glimpse of the bulge in Hinata’s shorts before the other man slapped his hand over Tobio’s eyes. “H-Hey! I didn’t mean you should _stare_ at it!”

“I _want to_ , dumbass,” Tobio snapped without thinking. As the meaning of his words sunk in, they quickly swiveled their heads to face away from each other, the two rivals both blushing furiously. At this rate, Tobio hoped his burning face and body would overheat enough for him to perish from a heatstroke. 

“G-geez, Kageyama, when did you get so shameless?” Hinata asked, cheeks still bright red. 

“Shut _up_.” The pause in their makeout session allowed for the haze of lust in Tobio’s mind to clear enough for him to reflect on the last few minutes. His eyebrows furrowed and he frowned in displeasure as his next thought struck him like a thunderbolt. “Oi, who taught you how to kiss like that?” 

Hinata blinked at the sudden topic change before a grin befitting a Chesire Cat overtook his face. He teasingly leaned into Tobio’s personal space, his warm breath tickling Tobio’s chin. Although having his legs around Tobio’s waist made him substantially taller, by slumping forward he was able to look _demurely up_ at Tobio, his half-closed eyes emphasizing the length of his ridiculous orange eyelashes and causing all sorts of issues for Tobio’s heart. 

“Why? Jealous again, Kageyama-kun?”

_No shit._

“Of course not,” he scoffed, lying through his teeth and hoping against hope that Hinata wouldn’t pick up on it. “I couldn’t care less about who you were with o-or what you did with them or when you had your first k-kiss or—”

But he _did_ care. He cared way too much; just thinking about faceless strangers getting to experience this side of Hinata (which should have all belonged to _Tobio_ , a part of him screamed) infuriated him to the point where Tobio fell silent, fuming and glowering indiscriminately at the brick wall behind Hinata’s head.

Firm hands took hold of his face and made him lift his head until his eyes made contact with a pair of whiskey-colored eyes. “You’re the possessive type, aren’t you, Kageyama?” Soft lips descended upon him without waiting for an answer, the action calming his raging jealousy as Tobio redirected that passion towards the embrace.

Hinata drew back, slipping off of Tobio’s body to stand on his own, and it was Tobio’s turn to chase after his lips, wanting to prolong their contact as much as he could. Maybe if he kissed Hinata stupid he could get the spiker to forget any past memories of kissing that wasn’t connected to Tobio. The hands on his face, however, kept him in place as Hinata spoke.

“Only you.”

“Hah?” Maybe Hinata had already kissed _him_ stupid, which would explain why Tobio was so slow on the uptake at the moment. 

Amused, Hinata smiled. That was something he tended to do a lot around Tobio, hopefully, _because_ of him and not _at_ him. “You’re the one who taught me to kiss like that. Just now.”

Tobio stared, disbelieving, despite the wave of yearning that washed over him and made him want to take Hinata’s words at face value. “You’re lying.”

A frown marred his face at the accusation. “Why would I lie about that? _You’re_ my first kiss, Kageyama.” Hinata was blushing slightly at the admission, but he stood his ground and refused to drop Tobio’s gaze. “In high school, I was too focused on getting to nationals and keeping my grades afloat to even think about stuff like that. When I was in Brazil, I kept to a pretty rigid schedule because I wanted to come back to Japan as soon as I could, so it’s not like I had any free time to—” His blush darkened. “— _you know_.” 

Joy and pride like nothing Tobio had ever experienced before surged through him, the feelings most reminiscent of the high he’d get from a victorious match. He replayed the words in his mind like a beloved recording: _You’re_ _my first kiss, Kageyama. M_ _y first kiss. My first_.

 _First_. 

Tobio had always loved being associated with that word. 

“Earth to Kageyama-kun! What’re you spacing out for, huh? Say something!”

“N-Nif-Nice.”

He probably deserved the smack to the chest Hinata gave him for that. Tobio hurried to amend his response before the orange-haired man actually became upset with him.

“You’re my first, too.” 

Unlike him, Hinata didn’t seem to doubt his words at all, which either meant he completely trusted Tobio, or Hinata truly didn’t think he had kissed anybody else, and for similar reasons as well. Tobio, after all, shared the same values and passion as the wing spiker. “Of course,” Hinata said, beaming once more, eyelashes fluttering until his eyes were half-lidded.

He looked absolutely ridiculous doing that, so why—just _why_ did Tobio’s heart seem to trip over itself in an attempt to mimic the dancing rhythm of Hinata’s eyelashes?

Unaware of the internal conflict he was causing the Schweiden setter, Hinata continued his onslaught, his arms slowly sliding around Tobio’s neck and tugging him down and _down_ until their foreheads were pressed against each other. He really was much shorter than Tobio, a detail he hyper-focused on—to lord over Hinata, of course. Tobio’s impressive height was just one other reason he was superior to the Black Jackal. And if he thought Hinata was the perfect height for Tobio to envelop in his arms, then that was nobody’s business but his. 

Hinata’s absurdly smug grin made Tobio’s big trap run faster than his brain, it seemed, and the words “ _come home with me_ ” were out of his mouth before he could realize what he’d just offered. 

For the second time that day, Tobio had Hinata at a loss for words. 

Attempting to remove the foot he’d just put in his mouth, Tobio said, “You don’t have to! I didn’t mean it like _that_! I-It’s just a suggestion! We don’t even have to continue what we were just doing here! It can—it can just be us h-hanging out or—”

A chaste peck to his mouth thankfully ended Tobio’s rambling. Pulling back with a grin as bright as stadium lights, Hinata nodded eagerly. “I want to!” Another kiss was placed on his lips, Tobio too dazed from the first to reciprocate properly. 

“Take me home, Kageyama.”

The words _take me_ and _home_ coming out of Hinata’s mouth infused his chest with a weird sense of satisfaction and Tobio could do nothing but helplessly nod back.

“We’ll have to take a cab,” he said. Tobio owned an apartment a bit far from the stadium, as he’d wanted a place within walking distance from his team’s training center so he could jog there before practice as a warm-up while the walk back served as a cooldown of sorts. 

The other man shrugged and grabbed Tobio’s hand, intertwining their fingers. “That’s fine,” he smiled dazzlingly. 

Tobio was going to _implode_ before they reached his apartment.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, thank you all so much for the positive feedback!! <3 I love reading and replying to all of your sweet comments; they make my day! Kudos and comments are always appreciated <33 Please tell me any constructive criticism you have as well.
> 
> Initially, I planned on splitting the entire fic into two chapters, but then a lot of Feelings happened and I didn't like how some scenes were turning out, so this chapter is pretty short too because I'm still editing the last chunk of it. :( Next chapter will contain smut, more Feelings, and also be the epilogue! I will try to post it by Friday. :)
> 
> I'm @mellifluouskrys on Twitter if you wanna come scream about haikyuu with me on there. :')


	3. revelry in the light

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Smut, more feelings, and then somewhat of an epilogue!

The drive and the short walk to his doorstep was done in silence, Tobio not trusting himself to say anything that might offend the other man or reveal just how nervous he was. 

It wasn’t like Tobio assumed they’d have sex when they got to his apartment. No, he—in fact—was fully on board with the having-sex-when-they-reached-his-apartment idea. The only flaw to that plan was that he was a socially awkward, twenty-one-year-old virgin while Hinata was this bronzed, multilingual, international volleyball star who had a large fanbase in Japan and Brazil. Never mind the fact that Tobio also constituted as a volleyball star himself. Hinata probably received fling offers from admirers all the time. 

(It didn’t occur to Tobio that if he was a virgin, the chances were that Hinata was one as well.)

Tobio shook his head, trying to dispel the rest of that disagreeable notion. But now that the thought had already crossed his mind he couldn’t seem to forget it and he pulled a face at the door, rooted in place. 

“Kageyama?” He turned his head to see Hinata watching him curiously. 

_Ah_. What was he sulking about? Hinata was right here. Out of all the places in the world he could’ve been in at the moment, Hinata was here with him. 

His baseless jealousy faded and he resumed unlocking his apartment, stepping back to allow Hinata in first. 

And maybe it was the sight of Hinata entering his home for the very first time or the seven shots of liquid courage blazing their way through his body, but at that moment Tobio felt indestructible. Indestructible Tobio had a big, fat mouth.

“I thought of you throughout the entire match,” Tobio blurted out.

Hinata paused with one foot through the doorway, head quickly swiveling back to him like some kind of orange owl. 

Cheeks aflame, Tobio continued, “Every…every serve or set I made during the game, before each one, all I could think about how you’d react. I-If you’d notice how I changed. Because I—” 

Tobio didn’t really know what he was admitting, but he was really hoping that they could figure out what the hell he was trying to say together. 

“I noticed how you’ve changed. Couldn’t miss it, really.” Tobio forced himself to meet Hinata’s widening eyes to show his sincerity. “You’re—You’re _phenomenal_ , Hinata. Do you remember in middle school, after our first match, when I asked you—”

“What the hell had I been doing the last three years?” Hinata interrupted, scoffing, though the expression on his face seemed almost…fond. “How could I forget? You were so mean, Kageyama-kun.” He emphasized his point by pinching Tobio’s cheek, softening his words with a low chuckle.

Tobio cupped the hand on his face before Hinata could pull away, his eyes locked with Hinata’s amber orbs. He’d never had a way with words if his poor Modern Japanese grades in high school were any indication, but for some obscure reason, Tobio needed to tell Hinata exactly what he’d felt playing on the same stage together, as rivals once more. 

“I didn’t mean it like how you think I did, I think. I…struggle with expressing things, so everything I said came out…wrong.” Tobio paused, already regretting dredging up their past, but Hinata smiled encouragingly at him and he found the strength to continue. “You had everything I had been searching for—your speed, your reflexes, your natural instincts, all of it made you a formidable opponent. Not to mention your _passion_ ; before you came along I had only ever known one person who was as dedicated to volleyball as I was.”

Embarrassingly enough, his voice cracked at the reference to his grandfather, but Tobio refused to let the stinging in his eyes stop him. 

“I asked you what you’d been doing the last three years because those were three years we could’ve spent _together_. I had been waiting for someone like you for so long and I had almost given up hope until I saw you _fly_ and I knew you’d become the best; I had a gut feeling that you’d settle for nothing less.”

 _Just like me, which is why I want_ you, he wanted to say, but even invincibility couldn’t force those words out of him. 

“Back then, you didn’t really have the…sources to refine your skills in middle school, but after high school graduation you went and found a way to improve all on your own, halfway across the world, and these past four years, Hinata, I could see all your growth and I—what I’m trying to say is that your receives, your feints, your jumps, your serves— _you can set now_ —your everything has…”

If there was a God out there then Tobio prayed He would only be so kind as to strike him dead where he stood because he had no fucking idea where he was going with this.

“I-I love volleyball, but I think—I think I love watching you more. _Ah_ , that is, watching you play more! You know, because you—you got…better,” he finished lamely, his intense gaze faltering, hands falling limp at his sides. 

As the seconds stretched into a whole minute without a reply from the shorter man, Tobio began contemplating the location of the nearest bridge he could throw himself off of. 

Fuck, _fuck_ —what were the odds he could force out a “Like I’d ever fucking say that! You suck just as much as you did back then, dumbass!” and get Hinata to forget everything Tobio had just said in the last two minutes? 

A warm hand drew Tobio out of completely formulating his escape plan, but Hinata’s eyes were focused on Tobio’s chest as he spoke. “Can we go inside, ‘yama?”

Tobio’s hands clenched into tight fists, nails biting sharply into his palm, yet he couldn’t seem to feel the pain, too gutted at Hinata’s choice to ignore his confession. He didn’t even bother chastising Hinata for shortening his name. 

He nodded shortly and stiffly led the other man into his apartment, locking the door after they had entered and turned around only to get _jumped on_. 

Tobio slammed back against the door he had just shut as Hinata did his best to climb him like a tree, hands grasping Tobio’s shoulders for leverage and legs flailing to wrap around Tobio’s hips. Automatically, Tobio’s hands rose to support his thighs, though his eyebrows also rose at the sudden development. 

“Hinata, wha—”

The ginger didn’t let him speak, urgently crashing his lips onto Tobio’s instead. Not even giving him a second to breathe, Hinata forced his mouth open and, despite his eager nature, his tongue was warm and soft, coaxing Tobio’s out as well. Without much thought of how disheartened he had felt just a few moments ago, Tobio sighed into the kiss, willing to accept whatever part of Hinata he could get. 

“ _Kageyama_ ,” Hinata sniffed as he drew back from the embrace, though he left his arms still wrapped tightly around Tobio’s shoulders. Now that there was a bit of distance between them, Tobio could properly see the spiker’s face, the moonlight slipping out from the curtains, highlighting his glistening eyes and flushed cheeks. Hinata was looking at him like Tobio hung the stars, or invented volleyball himself.

At the sight of Hinata’s unshed tears and trembling mouth, Tobio panicked. “H-Hey, d-don’t cry, dumbass!”

“I love you too, Kageyama.”

Time seemed to come to a halt as Tobio tried to process the words that had just come out of his mouth. Slowly, he slid down to the floor, using the door as support until he was finally seated on the ground, legs stretched out in front of him and Hinata perched on his lap. The spiker peered up at him… adoringly (???), seemingly content to wait however long it took for Tobio to respond. 

Swallowing audibly, Tobio managed to rasp out, “ _What_?”

Hinata curved his small hands (in comparison to Tobio’s, at least) around his face and frowned. “What’re you so surprised about? _You_ said it first.”

“When did I—!”

But, as he recalled what he had said to Hinata just outside of his apartment, Tobio stopped. His tone had been one of candid admiration, his words making it obvious just how much he had watched Hinata, not only today but every day they had been together. Not to mention the fact that the two of them were complete and utter volleyball idiots; no amount of words in any language could manage to convey their emotions with as much clarity and strength as the sport did. Admitting he preferred _watching Hinata_ play volleyball than actually play it himself might as well have been a declaration of intent. 

Tobio could sense his face becoming red and was suddenly glad that Hinata’s hands were covering his cheeks. “I…uh.” 

Luckily, Hinata took mercy on him and bent forward so their lips met, erasing anything else Tobio had in mind to say. If what Hinata said before was true—that his first kiss had been with Tobio,—then he was either a quick study or naturally gifted in the art of making out. Not that Tobio had anything else to compare it to, but the sinuous way Hinata bit Tobio’s bottom lip then _sucked on it_ , seemed like an advanced move. Things were quickly growing heated, but Tobio had enough sense to drawback, gasping out, “ _Shower_. We—We should shower.”

Hinata blinked, reeling from Tobio’s sudden withdrawal. Then, he coyly said, “Together?” 

_Demon_ , Tobio thought, face heating, mind scrambling for a way to kill his growing erection. He was fraternizing with a demon. Maybe this was what Ushijima had warned him about back in the locker room. He mentally apologized to his teammate, vowing to never doubt the man again.

“Quit fucking around, dumbass. You go first.” 

“Are you sure you don’t wanna join?” 

“ _J-Just go_!” 

After Tobio showed the other man where his bathroom was (though Tobio had to physically shove him in—“ _for the last time:_ _you’re taking a shower_ alone _, dumbass_!”) he searched through his drawers for something small enough for the spiker, settling on his old, _Setter Soul_ T-shirt and a pair of shorts that were too small for Tobio.

The sound of the door to his bedroom opening had Tobio looking up from what he was doing. 

“Here, I left some—” Tobio choked when he finally saw Hinata, wearing nothing but a towel around his waist and a big smirk on his face. His bare legs and arms were on full display and water dripped from his hair onto a collarbone so sharp, Tobio thought it should’ve been illegal. The way the droplets clung to his chest temptingly made Tobio want to _lick it_. His outrageous tan lines only aroused him further because Tobio was a Hinata-fanatic now, apparently, and his concept of what should’ve been attractive or not was heavily skewed. 

Gritting his teeth (and reigning in his libido), Tobio grunted “ _your clothes are on the bed_ ” and stomped out of the room, planning on taking the quickest shower of his life.

He pinched himself three times while in there, just to make sure this really was his life. (A broad grin followed after he did, but that fact would remain between him and the showerhead.) 

He exited the bathroom after he pulled on a pair of sweats (because unlike certain redheads, he had a sense of decency), returning to his room only to find Hinata lounging on his bed, still in just a towel, though he looked dry now. 

“I gave you something to borrow,” he pointed out, not letting his eyes wander. 

“What’s the point of clothes if we’re just gonna get naked anyway?” Hinata innocently asked with a shrug.

“ _Oi_! When the fuck did you get so p-perverted, huh?” He stammered. 

Hinata grinned and didn't bother with a verbal response, raising his arms invitingly instead.

Tobio slowly made his way over, his heart pounding a fast-paced rhythm. Hinata’s dark eyes watched him and he gulped, taking the final step closer. He placed a knee on the bed, next to Hinata’s outstretched legs and slowly leaned down, his hands coming up to cage Hinata’s head. 

Their lips barely brushed against one another before Hinata sighed happily, looped his arms around Tobio’s neck, and pulled him the rest of the way down until Tobio was practically laying on top of him. 

“I want you, Kageyama,” he whispered, echoing his statement from earlier. “Do you know how—”

“Yes!” He hurried to answer, awkwardness and embarrassment staining his face red. “I…know the process.”

Hinata cleared his throat, his sense of shame finally returning now that they both seemed committed to going all the way. “Ah, that’s–that’s good. Do—do you have everything we n-need?” 

Tobio’s face was flaming now but he firmly nodded. “I have lube and condoms, yes.” He didn’t tell Hinata where he’d gotten them from. A certain Schweiden Adlerwing spiker always went out of his way to ensure everyone on the team practiced safe sex and were well-stocked in terms of supplies. (“Infants are cute, but unexpected pregnancies are not.”) 

“Then, how should we…,” Hinata trailed off, eyes shyly looking off to the side and, knowing he was just as nervous as Tobio was, gave him the strength to take initiative. 

He leaned off Hinata to reach into his nightstand dresser, digging in his drawer until he found the items they needed. Tobio sat up on the bed, urging Hinata up to a sitting position as well. 

“How do you want to—do it?” He forced out with as much dignity as he could muster. 

Hinata buried his hands in his face and mumbled, “I want you i-in me—if that’s okay.” 

Oh god. 

Tobio nodded and picked up the lube. The spiker leaned against the headboard, propping up his legs, though he kept his knees together. Gulping, Tobio reached forward, gently pushing them apart, the towel that had been wrapped around his waist falling away. 

Tobio’s throat went dry. He had opted to leave the lights off, too embarrassed to do it under the exposing fluorescent lights, but now he regretted his decision. He wanted to see Hinata’s body, wanted his eyes to intimately know the exact shape and color of every inch of those gorgeously defined muscles. 

Tobio’s gaze lingered on Hinata’s cock, which laid against his thigh, pink and still soft, but Tobio set out to change that. 

Uncapping the lube, he squirted the liquid onto both his hands and he reached for the other man’s cock with his left, wrapping his fingers around the base of it. Hinata twitched a bit in surprise but stayed still for him. Pleased at his compliance, Tobio leaned forward to capture his lips before slowly sliding his hand up. Hinata gasped against his mouth, arching his hips just a bit into the touch. Emboldened, he began pumping faster, enjoying the soft pants Hinata would let out when anything felt particularly good. Soon enough, he was hard and leaking pre-cum in Tobio’s grasp.

He took advantage of Hinata’s diverted attention to slip his other hand underneath Hinata, watching him carefully. Hinata hissed as his cold fingers made contact with his opening, but still didn’t protest, though he drew back from their kiss to cover his face with his hands. 

Tobio rubbed the rim of his hole, testing the waters and allowing Hinata to acclimate to the sensation before gradually pushing his finger inside. 

“ _Ah_ —Kageyama,” Hinata bit out. Tobio kept his eyes on his finger as it went in and out, slowly getting the spiker used to it before carefully inserting another. 

The stretch was too much too fast for Hinata, and he cried out, hands moving away from his face to grab Tobio’s shoulders. “W-Wait!”

Tobio sat up from where he had been sitting on his knees, leaning forward between Hinata’s legs to kiss his cheeks. “Sorry, sorry,” he murmured. “I’ll go slower.” Hinata nodded, inhaling quickly. “I need you to relax, okay?” Another nod. 

Tobio had kept his two fingers frozen in place while he was reassuring the spiker, but now he moved them once more, methodically pushing them in and out, deeper and deeper with each stroke. As odd as it was, it had been Ushijima that had taught him all the ins and out of gay sex, and he thanked him for it now. Tobio knew that there was a bundle of nerves inside of a man that was supposed to incite pleasure when properly stimulated. 

Luckily for Tobio (and Hinata), he had always been a master at pinpointing targets. 

The furrow between Hinata’s eyebrows slowly disappeared and, on a particularly deep push, when Tobio curled his fingers, his lips fell open in surprise, a pleased “ _oh_!” tumbling out of his mouth. 

_Ah, there it was_ , he thought, satisfied.

Scissoring his fingers, Tobio made sure Hinata adjusted properly; then, after pouring more lube, he squeezed in a third finger, biting his lip at the seductive sight Hinata indeliberately made. He was writhing around his fingers, back arched beautifully, cheeks a pretty coral pink, and letting out the most provocative whines. Tobio was sure the inside of his sweatpants were a mess now with how hard he was and he regretted not listening to Hinata’s suggestion of foregoing clothes in the first place.

“Ka-Kageyama, that’s enough,” he whined, pulling on Tobio’s shoulders. “You can—you can put it in now.” 

Tobio huffed, pulling his fingers out and moving back to shuck off his sweats. Lifting one of Hinata’s legs into the crook of his arm, he gripped the base of his cock and glacially pushed inside, all the way, bottoming out with a groan from the both of them. The heat was nothing like he’d ever felt before, and Tobio had to stay still for a second so as to not come immediately like a fucking loser. 

Hinata, ever the demanding nuisance, squeezed him, down _there_ —the fucking menace—and urged, “ _Move_ , ‘yama.”

Scowling at being hurried, Tobio pulled halfway out and roughly slammed back in, immediately rueing the decision because Hinata clamped around him like a vice, mewling. His body went taut with the pressure of holding himself back and he set a steadier pace when Hinata finally loosened up. Hinata took his cock much like how he took their match not many hours ago—like a champ.

“Kageyama,” Hinata breathed hotly against his cheek. “I— _oh_!”

He snapped his hips harder into the smaller man, resulting in calloused hands scrambling to wrap around his back, his fingernails biting into Tobio’s shoulder blades. Tobio could feel a smug grin making its way onto his face as he watched Hinata’s eyes roll back in pleasure, high-pitched moans escaping out of his mouth.

Hinata pushed his face into the space where Tobio’s neck and shoulders met, whining, “Faster, please, _please_ —”

Tobio swore and picked up his pace, his grip on Hinata’s hips increasing brutally. He knew he’d leave bruises on the spiker’s hips at this rate, but he couldn’t find it in himself to care, too lost in a haze of pleasure. His thrusts turned erratic as he rushed to fill out Hinata’s request, to which Hinata responded to with encouraging swipes of his tongue to Tobio’s neck. 

_Fuck_ , he wanted to be _closer_. But first—

Tobio paused, moving his head back far enough to see Hinata’s face. “Hinata, open your eyes.” 

Hinata’s brown eyes blinked up at him, his rose-stained cheeks damp with sweat and tears alike. Tobio could see the quizzical look the other man was giving him and knew Hinata was seconds away from demanding his reason for stopping. 

Tobio placed a kiss on each of his cheeks before tipping their foreheads together and whispering against his mouth, “I want you to look at me when you come.”

The rosy tint in his cheeks spread, Tobio’s eyes avidly tracking its path all the way to Hinata’s glistening chest. It seemed as if Tobio had lost all sense of shame, though, because his demands didn’t stop there. He squeezed Hinata’s waist and hauled him in closer, suppressing a groan as Hinata instinctively tightened around him. He tilted his head a bit, which placed his lips right next to Hinata’s ear. “I want you moaning my name loud enough for the neighbors to hear.”

“Kageyama!” Hinata admonished, the embarrassment in his voice clear as day.

He leered, a smug grin overtaking his face. “Yeah, just like that.”

Without another moment of hesitation, Tobio pulled out of Hinata, far enough that only the tip of his cock remained inside of him, before slamming back in, his balls slapping obscenely against Hinata’s ass. 

“ _Nngh_ , Kageyama!”

If Hinata was going to have bruises in the shape of Tobio’s fingers tomorrow, then Tobio would have scratch marks carved into his back from the spiker’s nails. One of his hands lifted to shove Tobio’s head down into the curve of his neck, Hinata clutching at him desperately. Without missing a beat, Tobio began to suck on the seductive slope of the neck in front of him. He had been dying to leave his mark on the man since he first walked out of the shower.

Placing his hand on the back of Hinata’s leg, he hiked up one of Hinata’s thighs, the orange-haired man uncharacteristically malleable. Hinata squirmed around, pushing Tobio lower until his knee was hooked over Tobio’s shoulder in a remarkably hot display of flexibility. 

That shocked Tobio enough that his hips faltered, eyes widening as he looked at Hinata to see if he was really okay being bent like this. 

The confirmation came in the form of Hinata’s other leg lifting over Tobio’s shoulder and resting there, a mischievous smile and raised eyebrows taunting him as if saying _and what are you gonna do about it_?

Tobio returned his taunt with a rakish grin and decided to test the limits of Hinata’s athleticism, bending forward until Hinata’s knees were practically level with his head, and doing his best to fuck that smirk off his face. Hinata, the kinky shit, only moaned louder in the new position, hands reaching up to drag Tobio down into a sloppy kiss that was really more them gasping against each other’s lips. 

“K-Kageyama, I’m gonna–I’m gonna come—!” 

“Then _come_ , dumbass, so I can too,” he wheezed. He pressed his face into Hinata’s hair, breathing in the citrusy smell of shampoo. 

Strong fingers entangled in his hair, yanking his head back until he could see Hinata analyzing him with far too much suspicion for someone who was just about to orgasm. “Are you…are you trying to _outlast_ me?”

Tobio blanched. “W-What the hell? What kind of nonsense are you imagining—” 

“You _are!_ I can’t believe you!” Hinata punched him in the chest, _hard_ , scowling. “I can’t believe the guy I’m losing my _virginity to_ turned our first time into a _competition_!”

“It’s instinct with you!”

“Instinct _my butt_!”

“Oh, I’ll _instinct your butt_ alright!” Tobio threatened, equally pissed off now.

“What does that even mean— _hey_!”

Ignoring the death grip Hinata had on his hair, Tobio leaned back so he was sitting on his thighs. His withdrawal caused Hinata to uncurl a bit from his bent form, ankles resting on Tobio’s shoulders. He grabbed one of Hinata’s legs in each of his hands and pulled them further apart, the new position allowing Tobio to sink in deeper than before. Tobio groaned as the pleasure that had simmered down during their little spat re-emerged at full force. 

“Kageyama, wait, this position is too—it’s too mu—!” 

Hinata cut himself off with a loud moan, hands flying up to cover his mouth as Tobio aimed his next thrust at his prostate. With the grip he had on his legs, Tobio spread him even wider before pinching the back of Hinata’s thighs. “I said I wanted to hear you.” 

The spiker glared up at him, stubbornly keeping his hands in place, eyes flashing defiantly. 

The fact that the sight only aroused Tobio more was a testament to how gone he was on Hinata Shouyou.

“Hinata,” he warned, mercilessly plunging back in without warning. Hinata keened, arms raising to conceal his face.

That wouldn’t do. 

Tobio slipped a hand in between Hinata’s arms to cup his jaw, forcing the shorter man to begrudgingly emerge from his hiding place. “Don’t do that.” Affronted by the command, Hinata opened his mouth to probably remark something rude but Tobio continued before he got the chance to. “Let me see you. _Please_.” 

Hinata’s eyes softened considerably at that. His next words were said with a frown, however. “I’m still mad at you.”

“I know, I know,” Tobio acknowledged, leaning down to place an apologetic kiss on the crown of his head. “I’m sorry—it really was done unconsciously.” 

Hinata huffed but there was no longer any real irritation in his expression. “You’re just lucky that I’m probably the only other person in the world who understands how your dumb brain works.”

Those words warmed him up far more than Hinata would ever know. He brushed his orange locks aside to press a kiss against his forehead. “Only because you’re even dumber.”

“Shut up.” Then, in a teasingly low voice, “Fuck me, Kageyama-kun.”

Never one to back down from a challenge—especially one issued by Hinata—Tobio complied, though at a slower pace than before. He reached in between their bodies to wrap his hand around Hinata’s erection, earning a cry from the other man at the touch. Tobio leisurely moved his hand up and down, matching the timing of his thrusting hips. 

It didn’t take long for Hinata to reach the same desperate fervor, his moans gradually increasing in volume and frequency. When Hinata climaxed, though, he was silent, mouth falling open in a silent gasp, lithe body shuddering as white ropes of come splattered across his golden chest. It was the most erotic thing Tobio’s ever seen and served as the final push for his own eyes to squeeze shut, hips stuttering to a stop as he finished inside of Hinata.

“F- _fuck_ ,” he rasped, head dropping onto the spiker’s shoulder, the aftershock of his orgasm pulsing through him in forceful waves. Their heavy pants filled the room as they both tried to catch their breath. 

“We,” Hinata softly laughed. “are unbelievably good at that.”

Tobio adopted a fond smile and dropped a kiss on his head, wholly in agreement. They shared a few more lazy kisses, basking in the post-sex glow. Eventually, Tobio gently pulled out, tying up the condom like Ushijima had taught him and rising from the bed to toss it in the trash can. He looked over to where Hinata was watching him with sleep-laden eyes, starfished on Tobio’s covers. 

“Feels weird,” he slurred, legs closing shut. “I feel…empty?” 

Tobio didn’t think Hinata was trying to seduce him with that statement, but the words were as good as dirty talk to the setter, so he chose to ignore him, too tired for another round. “We should shower again.” The stickiness would disappear with a simple wet cloth, but Tobio wouldn’t feel really clean unless there was some kind of soap involved. 

“Nngghh,” Hinata groaned, throwing a hand over his eyes. “Noooo, sleep now, ‘yama.”

Striding over to the side of the bed, Tobio lifted Hinata’s arm and said, “No. Shower now. Come on, get up.”

Hinata pouted, raising both of his arms. “Carry me then.”

 _Cute_ , Tobio helplessly thought.

“You have legs; walk on your own,” he said aloud. 

Hinata snickered at him, pushing off the bed to stand. His snickering promptly stopped as his knees suddenly buckled. He yelped, his hand shooting out to grab Tobio’s shoulders while Tobio hastily caught him by the waist. 

“ _Oi_ , what’s wrong with you? Can’t you even stand straight, you klutz?” 

When his ribbing didn’t get him any reaction from the shorter man, Tobio ducked his head to look at his face. “Hey, Hinata, what’s wrong?”

Tobio’s eyes scanned his body to figure out just what the issue was and— _oh_. Seeing Hinata’s quivering legs had his face quickly heating and his chest filling with smug satisfaction. His fingers tightened around Hinata’s sides and he tentatively said, “I—uh, I guess I do have to ca—”

“Shut it! It’s your fault anyway; it’s only fair that you take responsibility!” Hinata’s face was a bright crimson red and Tobio couldn’t help the soft sniggers he let out at the sight of him. “Kageyama, I swear, if you ever tell _anyone_ about this I’ll—”

In the blink of an eye, Tobio scooped the spiker up, one of his arms hooked under Hinata’s knees and the other wrapped around his back for support. Hinata squawked, arms automatically looping around Tobio’s neck in surprise. 

“Who said I wouldn’t take responsibility?” He muttered, walking them towards his bathroom. Though Hinata had gotten brawnier over the past four years (a fact he thanked all the gods for), Tobio had gone through all of high school one-handedly hurling the spiker around. With his weight evenly distributed in both of Tobio’s arms, it was nothing.

Setting Hinata onto the edge of his bathtub, he walked over to the shower stall and ran the water until the temperature satisfied him. 

He picked Hinata back up, ignoring his protests that he could stand on his own now, and stepped under the spray of water. 

“Kageyama!” Hinata pounded his back, his laughter filling up the room. “Let me down, you brute! I’m fine now, I swear!”

Tobio snickered, his hand raising to squeeze Hinata’s firm ass before he placed him back on the floor. Hinata glared up at him, but Tobio pretended not to see it, reaching around his head to grab the soap. 

Rubbing the soap in between his hands until he had a thick, white lather, he commanded Hinata to stay still as he worked the soap all around his body, paying special attention to his chest and between his legs. He made Hinata lift his arms and legs as he soaped him down, then grabbed the shower nozzle to rinse him off before doing himself. 

Once he was satisfied with their level of cleanliness, he twisted the shower handle off and made Hinata wait in the stall as he grabbed them towels. 

“Step out,” he ordered. Hinata did and Tobio patted him down with the fluffy cloth, wrapping him up in it afterward. 

As he dried himself, he looked over to see Hinata staring at him and he impulsively said, “What? You trying to pick a fight, punk?” 

Hinata laughed. “No, dummy, you’re just way gentler than I thought you’d be.”

“I can beat you up if you’d prefer that.”

“Shut up, Softyama, you won’t.”

Tobio rolled his eyes, though he had a sneaking suspicion that it was done fondly. “Let’s go to bed before I change my mind.”

Taking Hinata’s hand in his, he led him back to the bedroom, tugging him into Tobio’s arm when they collapsed against the bed, too exhausted to bother with clothing. Hinata nuzzled into his embrace, resting his head on Tobio’s chest and entangling their bare legs, letting out a happy sigh.

“Love you, ‘yama,” Hinata murmured sleepily. 

“Sh-shut up and go to sleep,” Tobio retorted weakly, thankful the darkness of the night hid his seemingly permanent blush. He waited until the spiker’s breathing evened out until he whispered, “I love you too, dumbass.”

Body sated and heart full, Tobio pressed a kiss to the halo of orange hair in front of him before he succumbed to sleep as well. 

* * *

Tobio woke up to the sun radiating at him at an intensity so bright, he instinctively covered his eyes with his hands. 

Undeterred by his grumpiness, the sun laughed and pried his hands away from his face. “Good morning, Kageyama-kun!” 

When the sight of a semi-naked Hinata Shouyou (who was _in Tobio’s bed_ ) finally processed in his mind, he short-circuited. The morning light seemed to burn out any boldness he had the night before and he remained frozen in place as Hinata regarded him with a far too charming smile dancing on his lips. 

Actual sunlight poured in through his bedroom window, bathing the ginger in warm hues of white and gold, accentuating the spiker’s features in a way that proved the moonlight from last night hadn’t done him justice. It was hard not to stare at him; with his shock of orange hair and dark honey-colored eyes, Hinata Shouyou had always been physically bright. However, now his entire being just seemed more _saturated_. 

Hinata had become properly tan, his skin color shades darker than most Japanese people—especially in Miyagi, where the sun was rarely ever strong enough for people to get a sunburn, much less a tan. 

Not to mention the _freckles_. They were fading a bit, probably had been since Hinata’s return to Japan, but this close, Tobio could see how they scattered all across his face, as if someone had taken a copper-colored dipped paintbrush and flicked it at him. 

His shoulders had broadened as well, Tobio noted, throat feeling oddly parched. They were covered up for the most part by Tobio’s _Setter Soul_ shirt, but Tobio didn’t mind Hinata wearing his clothes one bit. He didn’t let himself wonder why that was.

A quick head-to-toe survey allowed Tobio to discover all the other places Hinata had gained muscle in; his calves and thighs, in particular, were toned to perfection, the strength in them obvious even off-court. Being a professional athlete meant he was surrounded by some of the fittest men in Japan, so of course Tobio noticed when a person was well-muscled, but _thirsting_ for said individual was an entirely new experience. 

_God_ , who didn’t realize how hot their partner was until after they fucked?

“ _Ka--ge--ya--ma_ ,” Hinata said, his tone implying that he had been calling Tobio’s name for a while. 

“What.” Blearily rubbing his eyes, Tobio sat up in the bed, placing his Hinata-admiring on pause for now.

“I have morning practice at eight.”

“ _What_?” He said sharply, the prospect of being apart from the Black Jackal making him more alert. “What time is it now?”

“Just after six.”

He let out a breath of relief. They still had some time.

Hinata scooted closer, leaning his head against Tobio’s shoulder and his voice was tentative as he said, “I…I was thinking about skipping practice today, actually.”

Head shooting up in disbelief, he turned to look at the spiker. “What? Why?” Then, eyes dropping to Hinata’s lap, he blushed. “Oh. Are your legs still—”

Hinata slammed a hand over his mouth, face a matching red. “ _That’s not it_!”

“Then what?”

Hinata wrapped his arms around Tobio’s arm, his mere proximity warming Tobio up more than the comforter draped over his body. “I just want to…spend time with you, is all.” 

The setter sat there, stunned and pleased beyond words at the admittance. “Oh.” He snapped out of his lovesick daze to dubiously question, “Why?” His suspicions were confirmed when Hinata looked shiftily to the side. 

“Hinata,” he started, anxiety skyrocketing as he began to imagine worst-case scenarios.

“My team is going to be traveling soon,” Hinata slowly revealed. “We play in Tokyo next week and then our matches are—don’t make that face, Kageyama!”

Tobio wasn’t sure what kind of expression he had, but he was vaguely aware of the high-pitched, wounded noise he emitted, his chest aching at Hinata’s imminent departure. He had _just_ gotten him back, this wasn’t _fair_.

“Don’t leave me again,” he demanded, holding on desperately to Hinata’s hand and turning to press his face into Hinata’s neck, his steady pulse reassuring Tobio of his presence. What he was asking for was not only unreasonable but, frankly, impossible given their professions and Tobio knew he sounded absolutely pathetic right now, but he was willing to forego his dignity if it meant keeping Hinata. “Haven’t I waited for you long enough? Haven’t I—been alone for long enough?” His voice splintered in the middle of his sentence and, to Tobio’s extreme chagrin, he felt a great tremor overtake his body as heat began to build up behind his eyes. 

God, he was so _needy_ —Tobio hated this weak, emotional version of himself; he hated how it always came out around the one person he wanted to be strong for. 

“Fuck, I—I’m sorry, I don’t know what I’m saying, just forget it,” he rasped, his tears falling despite his words. 

Hinata pulled him up for a kiss before he could embarrass himself any further, pressing his lips against each of his disgustingly wet cheeks, his snotty nose, his forehead, and then finally on his wobbling lips. 

“Where is my cool, aloof Kageyama the Kalm?” He huffed, his own eyes suspiciously glittering. 

“Shut up,” he mumbled as Hinata kissed the last of his tears away. 

“ _You_ shut up and listen here, idiot. I’m not going anywhere.” Tobio glared at him and Hinata conceded, “Okay, so I _am_ going somewhere, but it’s not forever! I’ll come back—I’m always going to come back to you.” At those words, Hinata blushed, but he maintained eye contact and he braved on.

“You may think that just because I’ve beaten you once I’ve fulfilled my vow of being the last one to stand on the court, but we’re taking this to the world stage, as allies or rivals. Even after we make it there, no matter the results, I don’t plan on going anywhere else without you, Kageyama Tobio. Go ahead and try to get rid of me, because from this moment forward we’re _bound_ , understand?”

Tobio gaped at him, heart compressing and expanding in an unfamiliar manner that made him want to vomit and embrace something all at the same time. “That was the…most disgusting thing I’ve ever heard.”

“ _Hey_ —!”

“Say it again,” he ordered, slamming their foreheads together and clasping Hinata’s much smaller hands in his own. 

His contradictory words earned him a few confused blinks out from the other man, but Hinata complied easily enough, eyes softening. “We’re in this together, Kageyama, from now until forever—”

He crashed their lips together, all his previous fears assuaged and, for some inexplicable reason, laughter bubbled up in his chest. Hinata melted against the kiss, arms coming up to snake around Tobio’s neck. 

After a moment, Hinata drew back slightly, looking Tobio right in the eye as he said, “I love you, Kageyama Tobio.” 

He began to lean back in without waiting for a reply, but Tobio reached up to cup his face, holding him there. Just as seriously, he declared, “I love you too, Hinata Shouyou.” 

With a grin brighter than the sun itself, Hinata bent forward to bestow more kisses upon his face, making Tobio smile wider than he had in years. Exhaling in bliss, Tobio shut his eyes and allowed himself to bask in his spiker’s love and affection.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was my first time writing smut don't come for me :'( wait actually no, DO come for me! please give me advice!!! Also yes this title is a reference to bnha LOL (revelry in the dark)
> 
> This concludes the LONGEST fic I've ever written and my first ever chaptered work! Thank you all for reading! Kudos and comments are always appreciated <3 Please lmk if this felt rushed or weird or OOC or anything!
> 
> I'm @mellifluouskrys on Twitter! Come scream about hq or any other anime with me. :')<3


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